Make it Seem by AliceinCleveland

The latest challenge is a hefty one. It calls for a total of four different photographs that require a good amount of thought. I was happy to receive it a bit before I headed out for a couple of days that were designated for nothing but exploring an unfamiliar town with a camera. I had all of these grand ideas for how this time would go. I was going to focus on my theme of “fracture.” I was going to figure out where I want to head with photography. I was going to really experiment with Lego Minifigures. I was going to have these wholly profound moments of inspiration and creative omnipresence and the results from these two days were going to be amazing.

Some of that even happened too. Mostly though, normal (not amazing) stuff happened.

I walked around this normal town looking for places that were green on a map but not designated as public park spaces. I laid on the ground a lot. I knelt. I laid down again. I got up. I got dizzy. I wondered what a feral groundhog might do to a person. I tried a new lens. (I didn’t think about “fracture” AT ALL.) I realized I didn’t know what this new lens was about and I laid down again. I eventually found my “way,” my “where I want to go.” I really enjoyed using the Lego Minifigures. They are close to what I want to do, but different enough that I can call one what I have to do and one what I want to do. The Minifigures found their way into all four of my photos for this challenge.

I noticed something else for the first time too. This was the first time I realized that the challenge said to “make” photographs. It is not the first time the challenge is worded this way, just the first time I noticed. I think that had a lot to do with how difficult I thought the challenge would be. I have never thought that I “make” photographs. When I’m out I am just capturing what makes sense, if, that makes sense. I’m not “making” anything, just sharing a moment. Maybe I am “making” something because I am placing a toy? Maybe I am “making” something because I might play with the exposure value afterwards? I’m not sure. I look back at stuff I have captured and I do not see a point where my photographs could not be seen in everyday life. Regardless of if they are “made” or “captured” here’s what I walked away with:

1. “Make a photograph of something that is supposed to be happy, and you should make it seem sad.” This was the hardest for me out of the bunch because I see sadness in most things already. I also had two options I thought were fitting. In the end, the option I did not use is my favorite of the two, but the relationship between the photograph and the “happiness” is also more abstract. In the spirit of the challenge I thought the happiness should be very apparent, so I went with the playground.

2. “Make a photograph of something that is supposed to be sad , and make it seem beautiful.” I came across this skeleton of a deer on my first day and I spent a huge amount of time with it. For real. Really. We talked, a lot. You will see this skeleton quite a few times in the month of April as I share more photographs. It was on the second day as I wondered about talking to it that I got the idea for this photo. So I went back.

3. “Make a photograph of something that is normal and make it seem shocking.” Well, what did you think a literal minded person would do?

4. “Make a photograph of something that you want the world to know about and make it urgent.” I think that nutrition is one of the hardest things in the world to learn, but it is crazy important. My country is neither built nor seemingly interested in building infrastructure that centers around good nutrition. It’s not as simple as more local farms. Good nutrition is not as easy as not getting fast food. In addition to the monetary difference right now, people need time to prepare food. Time and money are not things that most people have in America.

Thank you! I’m glad you like the last one. It started life in color and I didn’t like it myself until turning it black and white. I really like the challenges both participating and seeing everybody’s results.

I love your thoughts about making photos. One thing I realized with toy photography is that we are really making photos and not just simply capturing a moment. I think anyone who is trying to be creative with photography is making something. It’s not just about shutter speed or exposure but also composition, or put another way, it’s about the way the photographer perceive things. I personally don’t have the feeling your photos could have been seen in everyday life. They are the way you view life and for the outside viewer they definitely are something you created.

I can’t disagree that perception plays a large role in how photography is both made/captured and viewed. In the very definition of ‘make’ yes, I make photos. And while I don’t want to give away everything I can say my intent is always based in reality. I think an obvious example would be the photo of the minifigure on crutches. I made the set up, but am capturing the idea of sadness. I didn’t make sadness, it’s universal. My toys are always standing or looking or feeling something, something that I hope to convey. So I guess in a successful photo I have both made something and captured something. And in my (many many more) unsuccessful photos, the ones where you don’t feel anything, I have simply made something.

Thanks for your thoughts on that. I’m glad to be able to toss both of our views around in my head.